The University of British Columbia welcomes two important initiatives announced today by the provincial government.

The government announced today a 250-graduate increase to UBC’s technology education capacity and a planned public consultation process to chart a course for a more vibrant, innovative and connected Robson Square district.

Today’s announcement means UBC will be able to graduate more students in areas including software engineering and computer science, biomedical engineering, clean-tech, advanced manufacturing, and life sciences.

These initiatives will shape new economic drivers, increase the size of B.C.’s highly skilled workforce and help transform the way our talented young people are educated to become the next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators and job creators.

The high student demand for UBC’s engineering and computer science programs has meant that many highly qualified students do not gain admission. These new investments will create more spaces for students interested in these fields while also boosting UBC’s research and innovation capacity in these areas.

Alongside this increase in talent, the provincial government will launch an engagement process to explore a new vision for the Robson Square District. As an active community partner at Robson Square since 2001, the university looks forward to participating in this discussion.

UBC is committed to an expanded presence in downtown Vancouver and envisions a vibrant digital and data science hub that will include e-classrooms, cutting-edge programming, advanced simulation and visualization research and technology development, and much-needed collaborative space for leading edge innovators, sector partners, and investors.

An expanded downtown presence will create a strong foundation of data science and computational capabilities, outstanding talent, and active community hubs welcoming a steady stream of students, partners, and innovators.

“Today’s announcement comes at a critical time at UBC. Having recently celebrated our centenary, UBC is now engaging the broader community, faculty, students, and staff on a new strategic plan to carry the university into the next century,” said Santa Ono, president and vice chancellor of UBC. “The expansion of tech graduates and the potential to expand UBC’s downtown presence are two incredibly exciting initiatives to ensure we are contributing the talent, research, ideas and the know how to make B.C. one of the most innovative economies in Canada and the world.”